Kaepernick delivers

He offered a clear message to Clay Matthews and the Packers’ defense after delivering Green Bay another beating: “If intimidation is your game plan, I hope you have a better one.”

Kaepernick took a late, out-of-bounds hit from Matthews in the second quarter and showed no signs of slowing down, throwing for a career-high 412 yards and three touchdowns, with 13 completions to Anquan Boldin in San Francisco’s season-opening 34-28 victory Sunday.

Boldin’s sensational San Francisco debut helped keep his team on quite a roll in what has evolved into a fierce NFC rivalry. And Vernon Davis did his part in a prolific passing game led by Kaepernick.

From Super Bowl champion Baltimore to contender again with another coach named Harbaugh, Boldin was unstoppable. He finished with 208 yards receiving and a 10-yard touchdown.

Davis made a pair of TD catches for the NFC champion Niners.

Boldin sure showed he is a reliable replacement for injured Michael Crabtree.

“We knew they were going to come in ready to play after what happened in the playoffs,” Boldin said. “We had to come out and match their intensity.”

Frank Gore scored a go-ahead, 1-yard touchdown with 5:47 remaining as the 49ers made it three straight against Aaron Rodgers and Co., after beating Green Bay last September to open the season and then 45-31 in the NFC divisional playoffs.

Boldin sure has a knack for season openers, coming through with 10 catches for 217 yards in his first career game with Arizona, seven catches for 110 yards in his first game for the Ravens in 2010 — then this superb outing.

Kaepernick marched his team 80 yards on five plays to take the lead. The 49ers answered after Packers rookie Eddie Lacy put Green Bay ahead on a 2-yard run.

Rodgers threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns, but the Packers departed from Candlestick Park with another defeat eight months after that embarrassing postseason game.

Boldin came back from an apparent twisted right knee early in the fourth quarter to make a 43-yard catch in the decisive drive. He also converted on fourth down with a 15-yard catch that set up Phil Dawson’s late 33-yard field goal.

“He made plays he shouldn’t have made,” Kaepernick said.

Standout rookies, stellar debuts, ill will — this one had it all. In a picture-perfect setting, to boot, as Candlestick Park kicked off its farewell season.

Matthews made his mark, and in hindsight maybe not the way he wanted.

The Packers promised to target Kaepernick, but they probably meant for it to be in bounds. It wasn’t.

“First off, it wasn’t a very smart play,” he said. “I’d already committed to hitting the quarterback. I guess I should’ve figured he was going to step out of bounds. But it’s nothing personal. I went up to him later and was joking around with him.”

Dirty play?

“The late hit certainly was,” coach Jim Harbaugh said.

Matthews put the hit on Kaepernick, and 49ers left tackle Joe Staley made contact with Matthews after the play, receiving an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Both teams scuffled, and the officials mistakenly replayed the down.

SAINTS 23, FALCONS 17

NEW ORLEANS — Drew Brees passed for 357 yards and two scores, and the Saints held on for the win in coach Sean Payton’s return from his bounty ban.

Roman Harper secured the win when he intercepted a tipped fourth-down pass in the end zone with under a minute left.

Brees connected with Marques Colston for a 25-yard touchdown pass during which the receiver also set a franchise mark for catches with 533. Brees also hit tight end Jimmy Graham for a 7-yard score in the third quarter.

Matt Ryan passed for 304 yards and touchdown passes to Tony Gonzalez and Julio Jones. He also drove Atlanta to the Saints 3 in the final minute before falling just short.

COWBOYS 36, GIANTS 31

ARLINGTON, Texas — Brandon Carr returned an interception 49 yards for a clinching touchdown, and Dallas beat Eli Manning for the first time at their fancy $1.2 billion stadium with six takeaways in a victory over the Giants.

Tony Romo shook off a hit to the ribs that knocked him out for the final Dallas play of the first half and threw a pair of touchdown passes to Jason Witten.

Manning threw three touchdown passes to Victor Cruz and had New York in position for a comeback victory despite the flurry of mistakes.

But with the Giants trailing 30-24, a pass from Manning went off the hand of running back De’Rel Scott into Carr’s arms.

The cornerback beat Manning down the sideline for Dallas’ second defensive touchdown with 1:50 remaining. Barry Church returned a fumble 27 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Manning was 27 of 42 for 450 yards, and Romo was 36 of 49 for 263 yards. DeMarco Murray had 86 yards rushing for Dallas.

CHIEFS 28, JAGUARS 2

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Alex Smith threw two early touchdown passes, Kansas City’s defense dominated all day and the Chiefs began the Andy Reid era with a victory at Jacksonville.

Jamaal Charles ran for 77 yards and a touchdown before leaving the game with a quadriceps injury, but that was about the only negative for the Chiefs.

Jacksonville advanced past its own 36-yard line just once, a stunning display of offensive futility for the rebuilding franchise. The Jaguars finished with 178 yards, but for most of the game were challenging the team low of 117 yards set last year against Houston.

It wasn’t even close to the start the new coach Gus Bradley wanted, but it was a clear indication of how far the team has to go.

BEARS 24, BENGALS 21

CHICAGO — Jay Cutler passed to Brandon Marshall for the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, helping Chicago get the victory in Marc Trestman’s coaching debut with the team.

It wasn’t quite the display the Bears were looking for after making some big changes in the offseason. But it was good enough.

The Bengals led by 11 in the third quarter and were up 21-17 early in the fourth when Tim Jennings jarred the ball from Mohamed Sanu following a reception and made the recovery.

Chicago took over at its 19 and got an 8-yard run from Matt Forte on fourth-and-inches at the Bengals 27 to keep the drive going. Cutler then found Marshall in the front corner of the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown, giving Chicago a 24-21 lead with 7:58 remaining.

PATRIOTS 23, BILLS 21

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Stephen Gostkowski hit a 35-yard field goal with 5 seconds left to send New England to the road win.

Tom Brady set up the decisive score by leading a 49-yard, 12-play drive during which he twice completed passes to convert third downs. It was Brady’s 36th career victory in which the Patriots were tied or trailed in the fourth quarter.

Brady finished 29 of 52 for 288 yards passing and two touchdowns in helping the Patriots win their season opener for the 10th straight season.

The new-look Bills nearly pulled off a stunning upset in the first game under coach Doug Marrone and rookie quarterback EJ Manuel, who completed 18 of 27 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns.

Luck was 18 of 23 for 178 yards with two touchdown passes, but earned his eighth career fourth-quarter comeback by scrambling for a score with 5:20 to go.

Oakland started Terrelle Pryor at quarterback. He was 19 of 29 for 217 yards and one TD, and he broke the Raiders’ rushing record for a quarterback with 13 carries for 112 yards.

But he also threw two interceptions in the red zone, the second coming with 25 seconds left in the game.

LIONS 34, VIKINGS 24

DETROIT — Reggie Bush turned a short pass into a 77-yard touchdown in the third quarter and finished with 191 yards of offense to help Detroit pull away from Minnesota.

Joique Bell ran for two TDs, including a go-ahead score that gave the Lions their first lead early in the third quarter.

Matthew Stafford was 28 of 43 for 357 yards with two TDs. His last score was a 1-yard lob to rookie tight end Joseph Fauria with 6:47 left that sealed the win.

Adrian Peterson ran for a 78-yard TD on his first carry and scored on a 4-yard run to give Minnesota a 14-6 lead in the second. He ended up with 93 yards rushing.

RAMS 27, CARDINALS 24

ST. LOUIS — Greg Zuerlein kicked a 48-yard field goal with 40 seconds left to lift St. Louis to the comeback victory.

It was Zuerlein’s fourth field goal of the game for the Rams, who trailed 24-13 after three quarters.

Larry Fitzgerald caught two touchdown passes from new quarterback Carson Palmer and Arizona’s defense had a TD.

Jared Cook had two touchdown catches in his Rams debut. The tight end fumbled a potential third TD, a 55-yarder that would have opened the scoring, when rookie Tyrann Mathieu punched the ball free at the 8 and the play resulted in a touchback.

With the Jets trailing 17-15 and time running out, rookie Geno Smith scrambled for 10 yards — and was shoved while he was out of bounds by David.

The 15-yard penalty gave the Jets the ball at the Buccaneers 30 and set up Folk’s winning field goal on the next play.

Things appeared dim for the Jets just moments earlier when Rian Lindell kicked a 37-yard field goal with 34 seconds left.

Smith, making his first NFL start with Mark Sanchez out with a shoulder injury, made some mistakes — a fumble that led to a score and an interception — but was mostly solid while going 24 of 38 for 256 yards with a touchdown.

TITANS 16, STEELERS 9

PITTSBURGH — Tennessee’s revamped defense sacked Ben Roethlisberger five times and the Titans shut down the Steelers.

Chris Johnson ran for 70 clock-chewing yards, Jackie Battle bulled his way to a 3-yard touchdown in the second quarter, and Rob Bironas kicked three field goals for the Titans. Tennessee’s new-look defense did the rest.

Pittsburgh managed just 195 total yards and lost a series of players to injury, including Pro Bowl center Maurkice Pouncey. Pouncey left in the first quarter with a right knee injury and likely will miss an extended amount of time.

The Titans gave up more points than any team in the NFL last season and brought in Gregg Williams as an assistant. His impact was immediate. Roethlisberger completed 21 of 33 passes for 191 yards and a late touchdown, but never got comfortable when the game was in doubt.

SEAHAWKS 12, PANTHERS 7

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Russell Wilson threw for 320 yards for Seattle, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse in the fourth quarter.

The Seahawks managed just two field goals before Kearse beat cornerback Josh Thomas down the right sideline for the go-ahead score with 10:13 left.

The Panthers held Marshawn Lynch to 43 yards rushing, but Wilson picked up the slack by completing 25 of 33 passes.

The Panthers threatened to take the lead late, but safety Earl Thomas forced DeAngelo Williams to fumble at the Seattle 8. Defensive tackle Tony McDaniel recovered with 5:25 left. The Seahawks ran out the clock from there.

Carolina’s Cam Newton was held to 125 yards passing and one touchdown, a 3-yard strike to Steve Smith in the first half.

DOLPHINS 23, BROWNS 10

CLEVELAND — Ryan Tannehill passed for 272 yards and a touchdown, leading the Dolphins to a win over the Browns, who fell to 1-14 in Week 1 since 1999.

Tannehill, who was given more offensive weapons for his second NFL season, threw a 34-yard TD pass to Brian Hartline in the third quarter and drove the Dolphins to a game-clinching TD in the fourth.

Daniel Thomas had a 1-yard scoring plunge with 6:48 left, putting the Dolphins up by 10.

Miami’s Cameron Wake had 2½ sacks and the Dolphins’ defensive line sacked Brandon Weeden six times.

Weeden threw three interceptions and the Browns never got anything going in coach Rob Chudzinski’s debut.